Drivers in Manchester fined £450,000 over yellow box junctions
Manchester City Council issued more fines to drivers caught in yellow box junctions than anywhere else in the country, new figures show.
The RAC, which obtained the statistics through Freedom of Information (FoI) requests, said the 'enormously high number' of penalty charge notices (PCNs) should 'send alarm bells ringing in council offices'.
Analysis shows Manchester City Council issued the most PCNs with 13,130 in relation to six junctions, bringing in £446,706.
PCNs are generally £70, reduced to £35 if paid within 21 days.
Only a fraction of yellow box fines are appealed against by drivers, with the highest proportion appealed being 18% in the Manchester City Council area.
Yellow boxes are used in an attempt to ensure traffic flows smoothly through busy junctions. Motorists should not enter them unless their exit is clear or they are waiting to turn right.
Elsewhere, Kent's Medway Council raised the second highest amount at £145,162 after handing out 4,433 PCNs for the five yellow boxes it enforced.
It was followed by Buckinghamshire Council, which received £139,798 for 3,618 fines.
But the single junction that generated the largest revenue was at Dennis Roundabout in Guildford, Surrey, which cost drivers £81,445 as 4,250 PCNs were issued.
At the other end of the scale, Gloucestershire County Council issued just 30 yellow box PCNs, raising £945, while Leeds City Council handed out 50 fines, resulting in £605 being paid.
RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis said a yellow box which generates a small number of fines indicates it is 'working as it should', which must be the ambition for councils rather than using them as a 'revenue-raising opportunity'.
He went on: 'Very few people set out to deliberately flout the rules and get fined.
'The large number of penalties being dished out over a small number of locations and in a short space of time should send alarm bells ringing in council offices.
'It's vital box junctions are used in the correct places and are only as big as absolutely necessary.
'They must be fairly set up so that drivers don't find themselves stranded through no fault of their own.'
A spokesperson for the Local Government Association said: 'All councils follow guidance to ensure motorists are treated fairly.
'There are processes for appeal if anyone believes they have been unfairly fined.'
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